‘The Ugly Truth’ is a Romantic Comedy for Both Sexes
-----‘The Ugly Truth’ looked hilarious in the trailer, and thankfully it’s a pretty fun movie. With the charismatic Gerard Butler and a strong costar in Katherine Heigl, it’s good to see a chick flick that works. It reminds me that this somewhat tired genre can produce quality movies. And for the most part, if you liked the trailer you’ll enjoy the movie too.
-----‘The Ugly Truth’ is the story of raunchy and blunt TV personality Mike Chadway, and uptight control freak producer Abby Richter. When Abby is forced to bring the raunchy Mike onto her traditional news show for the sake of ratings, she is furious. As it turns out however, Mike might not be such a bad guy after all.
-----The awesomely entertaining and similarly versatile Gerard Butler plays Mike. Getting tons of laughs and basically making ‘The Ugly Truth’ a formulaic chick flick that stands out, he also manages to build an excellent chemistry with Katherine Heigl, who plays Abby. Heigl also does her part, and while the chemistry with Butler is impressive, she also manages to play to a whole other audience. Butler walks the lines of too raunchy for house-moms, and thoroughly entertains the male audience. Heigl however, reels in all of the women in the crowd looking for a fairy tale chick flick. It’s really a win-win situation that will please surprisingly diverse audiences, without hanging anyone out to dry. The movie rotates almost completely around their performances, so while there are other contributors, the focus of the film is 95% on the starring duo. And what the stars have managed to create is one of the year’s best date movies (after ‘Watchmen’ and ‘Knowing,’ ha-ha).
-----After the very disappointing formulaic romantic comedy ‘The Proposal,’ I feared I was losing touch with what can be a fun genre. ‘The Ugly Truth’ is also very conventional, but it is above par in the humor and chemistry categories. With ‘The Proposal,’ most of the humor was centered solely on female audiences, and the whole film followed rom-com clichés to an almost unbearable level. Not to mention the rushed matching of the two stars. With ‘The Ugly Truth,’ however, we have a believable love-hate relationship between two stars, each catering to separate demographics without splitting the film in two.
-----Technically, the film is pretty much by the book, applying cinematography that does its job and avoids being an unnecessary distraction. The music is also conventional, with a few fun contemporary tracks here and there. Despite fitting into the chick flick molding pretty well behind the camera, it’s the stars exceptional performances and believable chemistry that make this a film that girls and guys can enjoy for multiple viewings. As for the rating however, I’m surprised the studio didn’t pull for a PG-13 rating. There are certainly some raunchy jokes and themes, but as far as I’m concerned the only reason this film was legitimately R-Rated is for its consistent use of the F-Bomb. And while I didn’t find the F-Bomb offensive, and it was even funny and character driven at times, it could have been subbed out pretty easily. I mean, if ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’ is only PG, I think this movie could have easily been PG-13 if you subtracted some of the language.
-----There’s not much to say about this conventional, but outstandingly fun film. It’s a feel good story that everyone can enjoy, and therefore finds an audience as fast paced entertainment thanks to its stars and a pretty witty script. There are scenes we have seen before in earlier movies, but they’re just as fun and occasionally superior here. And on top of being pleasing for a first viewing, the film is also very re-watchable, with a short runtime, a fast but reasonable pace, and plenty of humor throughout. I will stress again however, that the leads in a romantic comedy make or break the movie, and here they carry the movie with supreme ease. There are still a few flaws here and there, whether it’s a jump in pacing, an underdeveloped subplot, or the fact that it’s agreeably a bit forgettable, but these rarely weigh the film down. Ultimately, the x-factor of Butler consistently keeps it fun, and ‘The Ugly Truth’ provides a great example of a conventional film where you can just sit back, relax, and enjoy.
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